Scorpio Black 750GB WD7500BPKT "grinding" noise

My new Scorpio Black 750GB makes a somewhat quiet "grinding" noise while it spins up and while it spins down. It only lasts a second or two, and the drive sounds perfect after that.

It doesn't sound like anything is grinding really hard.

Anybody else with one of the new WD7500BPKT drives hearing this? My older, smaller Scorpio Black doesn't make this noise, but it didn't pack data in like these new Advanced Format drives.

I paid for overnight shipping, so it would suck to have to RMA it.

 

Try using QuietHDD

 

Well, I'm not sure APM comes into play here. This only happens during spin up just after the computer turns on (before it even POSTs), and during shutdown, right before the computer shuts off.

 

Advanced format shouldn't have anything to do with a noise like that. Does your drive spin down at all, and does the sound happen then, too? Or only at startup/shutdown? I suspect that there may be a piece of dust or something else that slipped past QC, or a slightly bad bearing, and you're hearing that grind as it spins up. Try checking SMART values as well; I think if there is a problem, this will show up under "recalibration attempts" or something like that.

 

I would RMA it, I don't get any noises on my WD7500BPKT

 

Yeah, certainly AF shouldn't do anything like that, just figured that was the biggest difference between this and my WD5000BEKT which doesn't make this noise.

I haven't left it on long enough to let APM do anything, I haven't even installed anything onto it yet (just put my WD5000BEKT back in for the time being). Checked SMART with palimpsest, nothing unusual there.

As far as RMAs go, will a direct RMA via Western Digital ship me a new drive, or a refurb? It's only been a few days ...

I could just RMA it through Newegg and get a new one, but that will take longer than WD's "Advance" RMA.

 

Haven't yet had to RMA a HDD yet, so I couldn't say for sure. These drives are new enough, and your drive is probably new enough that you could probably get a new drive. Don't quote me on that, though. You could try asking WD when you try to apply for a RMA, maybe?

 

I would go through newegg, that way you get a new one, and not a refurb.

 

I say go through WD. Their advance RMA service is speedy and painless.

 

I gave WD a call and asked if I could get a new one, or if I would be getting a refurb. They said that it's not a refurb, it's "recertified" ... uh, OK.

Yeah, the WD Advance RMA would be faster, but I went with Newegg on this. Sent the drive back today, should be there Wed. Hopefully Newegg ships the new one that day (FedEx 1day) and I should have it on Thursday.

Shame though that I originally paid extra for overnight shipping ... seeing as how it will be about a week from the time I ordered and the time I (hopefully!) will have a working drive.

 

Looking forward to hear if the next one will be quiet.

All the Scorpio Blacks I have had in the past have been rather noisy.

In what notebook is that?

 

Mine is noisy too but i can live with that.

 

2010 MacBook Pro, I get no seeking sounds, or clicks, just a constant "whirr" but it doesn't bother me. I had a WD5000BEKT that had a much louder "whirr" and vibrated the case.